Raum der Information (space for information) at the German Armed Forces Memorial Berlin

The Raum der Information (space for information) has been designed as an architectural complement of the Memorial of the German Armed Forces. While the tall Memorial with its perforated metal facade has a transparent effect, the external appearance of the single-storey building is monolithic and low-key,  thanks to its non-perforated exposed concrete walls. The roof structure is formed by a white saw-tooth roof spanning the exhibition space underneath. Two cutouts are made outside the roof to form courtyards: The entrance area which is open towards the street and the parade ground and a further courtyard on the other side of the building. The exhibition space is structured by two transverse installations: In the entrance area, alternating quotations introduce the visitor to the building’s theme, while, in the main room, a chronology of fatalities associated with the German Armed Forces is presented behind backlit glass strips. The room adjacent to the inner courtyard contains listening stations with the voices of the bereaved. Here, visitors can focus on their personal thoughts, looking out towards a multi-stemmed hornbeam tree. In order to do without heating and air conditioning, a specific building concept with natural ventilation of the glass strips and automatically controlled louvered windows in the saw-tooth roof has been developed. The floor is made of light-coloured terrazzo, while the partitions are covered in oak veneer. Taking up the metal theme from the Memorial, the gates are covered in architectural bronze, decorated with the Iron Cross of the German Armed Forces made by a special stamping process.

Services Wenzel + Wenzel: Tendering, Award of contracts, Site supervision, Project supervision

Client: Bundesministerium der Verteidigung / Bundesamt für Bauwesen und Raumordnung (BBR)

Design: TRU Architekten Partnerschaftsgesellschaft mbB, Berlin

Project data:
Period of performance: 2017 – 2018
gross room volume: ca. 865 m³
gross floor area: ca. 235 m²
costs: ca. €2m

Copyrights:
Photos: BBR Presse / photographer: Werner Huthmacher
Text: TRU Architekten